St. Michael-Albertville is no stranger to winning boys wrestling state titles. The program has 11, after all — and that’s just counting team titles. Over the years there’s been a consistent flow of individual Knights wrestlers finding themselves atop of the podium at the end of the season.

Rarer than a state championship has been a MatBoss Minnesota Christmas Tournament title.

The annual wrestling tournament brings together many of the top boys wrestling teams in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. This year, 49 teams descended onto Rochester’s Mayo Civic Center for the tournament’s 38th edition, including the defending Class 3A state champion Knights.

St. Michael-Albertville celebrated the holidays with its second consecutive Christmas tournament title, and sixth overall. The team’s haul of 376 points was more than 100 ahead of second-place Stillwater and third-place Shakopee. Freshman Jackson Thorn, sophomore Lincoln Robideau and senior John Murphy all placed first in their respective weight classes.

“It’s our first big test,” Knights head coach Josh Joriman said. “They had teams from everywhere, and it’s all one class, and so everybody’s competing against the best wrestlers in the state.”

Joriman added: “Some guys, they don’t have a good tournament, and then it’s just a perfect example, ‘OK, here’s where we need to get to. Here’s where we need to be’. And some of the guys had a lot of success, and then you break down about, ‘Well, why did you have some success?’ ”

Joriman said that growth mindset is a key fundamental of the program, from its top experienced wrestlers to its newcomers. “People aren’t satisfied resting back on their laurels,” he said.

This year’s boys team is just shy of 65 wrestlers, above the team’s typical range of 50-55 members. How the Knights can attend to the needs of over five dozen individuals comes down to what Joriman heralded as a top-notch coaching staff: over a dozen coaches, some part-time volunteers, that dedicate their time to the team.

“We have some phenomenal assistant coaches, a lot of them alumni, and they’re the ones that are having one-on-one conversations … working just as hard, just to help make sure that people are putting their best foot forward each and every day so they can find their own version of success,” Joriman said.

Nominate a team: Want to nominate a varsity team for Taco Bell Team of the Week consideration? Email us at varsity@startribune.com. Winning teams receive free tacos from Taco Bell and Border Foods.